“One thing I ask of the LORD, only that do I seek: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD, to frequent His temple.” (Ps. 27 NJPS) Our twice daily recital of Psalm 27 since the beginning of Elul has embedded these two verses firmly in our minds. In these times, these verses have taken on a special poignancy for me. Firstly, the pandemic that threatens the world has exiled us from the “house of the LORD,” whether that be our synagogue, study hall, or our yeshiva. This psalm expresses in a basic way our desire to return to the “house of the LORD.” For us, the Yeshiva family, this verse expresses our desire to return home to Yeshivat Maale Gilboa, which is our Shul, Beit midrash, and most importantly – our home.
In addition, it seems to me that the experience of the high holy days this year was different and strange for observant Jews around the world. Many of us came to wonder what religious significance this situation could have. These days, when there are no prophets there is nobody who can tell us with clarity and certainty what God wants us to learn from our situation. (As the Israeli singer Yishai Ribbo says in his beautiful song Keter Melucha, “what do You want us to learn from this?”) Even so as Jews of faith and thinking people we are not exempt from asking this question even if we know we cannot find a complete and fulfilling answer. Does the exile from the comfort and familiarity of our synagogues represent a call to us to step out of our comfort zone and to put greater effort into our attempt to serve God in our personal search for God in our lives. Or perhaps this moment calls on us to spread outwards the light that illuminates our synagogues and study halls. Or, maybe, this is all part of the great lesson in humility that the world is learning right now from this unexpected pandemic.
Whatever the lesson, we now stand before the holiday of Sukkoth which will also be different from previous years. The Rabbis make it clear that Sukkoth has a dimension of communal or perhaps even national joy and celebration. The midrash reads the verse “all citizens of Israel shall live in booths,” (Lev. 23 NJPS) as a call for all the people of Israel to be able to live in one Sukkah. This year, despite the call for communal joy, our Sukkoth will be more modest and familial. This will allow us to return to one of the basic meanings of the holiday. One of the most important commonalities between Pesach and Sukkoth is the emphasis on celebrating in the most minimal and elementary ways. Matzah is the simplest and most minimal of breads, and the Sukkah is the most modest and basic of human shelters. It seems as if the Torah wants to remind us in times of celebration that true joy, safety, and satisfaction do not come from the dainty foods and the comforts of a beautiful home. There is something beyond us that is the true source of the safety and joy in our lives.
“He will shelter me in His pavilion (Sukkah) on an evil day,” (Ps. 27 NJPS) declares King David. The Sukkah is the image which King David uses to express his sense of trust in God. In our tefillah, we say “spread over us your Sukkah of peace,” using the sukkah, a weak structure with a roof through which the stars can be seen, as a symbol of God’s protection, like the clouds of glory which encompassed the people in the desert. Perhaps this year specifically when many of the sureties in our lives have been weakened, our small familial sukkah will take on additional meaning, deepening our faith and prayer. We will fulfill what the psalmist says so beautifully “In you God I have sought refuge, I will never be ashamed.” (Psalm 31)
